Dear Colleagues,
I'm writing to share the unfortunate news of David Huron's passing. Much more will be written in the coming days and weeks about David, but for now I will just say that, in addition to being a brilliant scholar and pioneer in the fields of music cognition and
music theory, he was an example of how to live a meaningful and rewarding life of the mind while nurturing and supporting the work of junior scholars, students, and the community. As recently as Monday, he was hard at work on multiple projects, all of which
will see the light of day soon.
Like many of you, David's impact on my life cannot be overstated. I recently asked if he wanted to say anything to the community, and being a good empiricist, I asked him this multiple times as a test for intra-rater validity. On all occasions, he replied
that he was "just so thankful to all of the musicians for all of the beautiful music."
He will be sorely missed.
An obituary is below.
David Brian Huron (né Harrison). Born June 1, 1954 in Peace River, Alberta, Canada. Died in Benicia, California on June 5th, from cancer. Son of Allan Henry Harrison (1919-2011) and Luella Gertrude Scott (1925-2011). Survived by long-time partner and spouse
Kristin Precoda, brothers Douglas Allan, Kenneth Bruce, sister Marion Gaye, in-laws Beth Harrison-Cain, Peter Thompson, and nephew Casey Scott Harrison.
David was a music lover, musician, and music scholar. Throughout his childhood and adolescence David received extensive training in piano, organ, flute, and music theory. He attended Canterbury High School for the performing arts in Ottawa and subsequently
studied flute with Karin Schindler at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1978 he completed an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo--pursuing mixed studies in music, aesthetics, psychology, acoustics, computer science,
and engineering.
For several years after graduation David was active as a composer. His music was programmed in some fifty concerts and was featured in single-composer productions in Ottawa, New York, and Rio de Janeiro. Discouraged by mix-ups in which he was mistaken for another
composer by the same name, David Harrison legally changed his name to David Huron in 1984.
David continued his education, completing a masters degree at York University, Toronto (where he worked with semiotician David Lidov), and a doctoral degree in musicology at the University of Nottingham, UK (where he was supervised by Brahms scholar, Robert
Pascall). At Nottingham, David also began conducting experimental studies, collaborating with psychoacoustician Deborah Fantini at the nearby British Institute for Hearing Research. Abandoning his activities as a composer, David spent the rest of his career
conducting music research, producing nearly 200 scholarly publications including three influential books:
The Science of Sadness: A New Understanding of Emotion (2024), Sweet Anticipation: The Psychology of Expectation (2006) and
Voice Leading: The Science Behind a Musical Art (2016).
Upon completing a PhD in 1989, David was appointed Assistant Professor of Music at Conrad Grebel College, receiving a promotion to Associate Professor in 1991. He held concurrent positions at the University of Waterloo, including administrative Coordinator
and principal instructor at UW's Center for Society, Technology, and Values. At the University of Waterloo, he also held complimentary appointments as Associate Professor of Psychology (1994-1998) and Adjunct Professor of Systems Design Engineering (1994-1998).
In 1998, David emigrated to the United States where he took up the position of Professor in the Ohio State University School of Music with a salaried joint appointment at the Center for Cognitive Science (later the Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences).
At OSU he was head of the Cognitive and Systematic Musicology Laboratory for 22 years, retiring in 2019 with the rank of Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor. During his OSU tenure he supervised two dozen doctoral and post-doctoral researchers in systematic
and empirical music research. He also taught empirical research methods in musicology to nearly two hundred scholars and students from other institutions through annual week-long summer workshops.
David's scholarship was recognized through several awards, including the Society for Music Perception and Cognition's lifetime Achievement Award (2017), the Society for Music Theory's Lifetime Membership Award (2019), and a Fulbright Research Chair (2020) which
he was unable to take up due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021 he was named Nico Frijda Honorary Chair in Cognitive Science, awarded by the Amsterdam Brain and Cognition Center and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam.
In lieu of a public memorial, friends, colleagues, and family are invited to post online reminiscences at legacy.com once the obituary goes online.